How Does Alliance Prepare Scholars for College?

The Path to College Graduation

As we enter college application season, families wonder how to best prepare their teenagers for success in that crucial time in their lives. Alliance College-Ready Public Schools were built for this challenge.

Alliance has successfully created an educational charter system where entering high school students are prepared for college throughout their education by preparing them to:

Build the identity of a scholar in an Alliance school
Graduate successfully from high school with college-ready skills
Succeed in college and graduate.

Creating the College-Ready Identity

From academic classes and extracurricular activities to community building and college experiences, every aspect of the Alliance experience reinforces the identity of scholarship.

Humans are social creatures and tend to behave in the way the group rewards their behavior. By placing scholars into an environment where everyone believes in their capability and in fact expects them to apply to and succeed in college, they are far more likely to follow that beneficial road. And when the normal group behavior is to respect and earnestly achieve in school, students are more likely to encourage each other towards positive academic achievement.

Changing labels can be a powerful tool to recreate an identity that doesn’t have any negative connotations that might have built up, and allows for the positive associations with imagery of succeeding in classes.

When someone walks in the door at Alliance, they are no longer a student; they become a college-ready “scholar.”

All of Alliance is focused on helping the scholar achieve a “College-Ready Graduate Profile”

Scholarly Thinker
Resilient Learner
Powerful Communicator
Wellness Seeker
Community Advocate

This identity is reinforced by real-world experiences. Alliance scholars are able to participate in college tours to visit the schools themselves and associate themselves with the college experience. Alumni are hired to personally mentor scholars so they can see someone from their own community who has recently graduated from college successfully.

By building the identity of a scholar within a supportive community, Alliance schools are recreating the educational experience to make college-ready scholars the expectation, not the exception.

Building the Skillset

Because charter schools are allowed more flexibility in curriculum planning as long as they hit key milestones, charter networks like Alliance are able to set their own graduation requirements, and it is working. From intervention programs for English learners to AP classes for deep subject understanding, Alliance meets scholars where they are and prepares them for the next academic level.

One example of Alliance’s commitment to college readiness is aligning A-G course graduation requirements exactly with the University of California and California State University systems that prove a student’s mastery of core subjects.

According to The 74, the California Charter Schools Association data showed 86% of graduates from independent charter schools in Los Angeles passed their A-G courses with C’s or better in 2018 (excluding specialty alternative charters that are assessed differently). This compares favorably to LA Unified’s 65% rate.

At Alliance, students are required to pass A-G courses with a C or higher to graduate, aligning exactly with the UC and CSU subject requirements. This means the 96% of seniors who graduate from Alliance are all prepared for these in-state college standards.

And with further context, this statistic is more impressive. Alliance works with students with limited financial resources where 96% qualify for free and reduced-price meals. Black/African American and Latinx students make up 98% of the scholar population. According to EdSource’s analysis of the CA Department of Ed’s 2023 numbers, only 32% of Black students and 36% of Latino students met the A-G requirements.

College acceptance through graduation

Even with Alliance’s excellent graduation rates, the challenge remains for how to get students to apply, succeed, and graduate from college.

Alliance schools create programs to address the systemic challenges that make this harder for first-generation college students to persist in college. This includes the academic rigor of high school classes, but also building the skills of self-direction and time management along with finding paths for realistic financial planning. The “PACE” blended learning system is one example.

First, scholars need to develop an understanding of what colleges they want to go to and for completing competitive applications. Each scholar has a dedicated counselor who supports them through every step of the process.

Next, scholars and families need to navigate the financial assistance process. Alliance offers community workshops and family resources to help find scholarships and financial assistance. It also offers scholarships to graduating seniors in programs such as the “Alliance Gayle Miller Leaders of Change Scholarship.”

Finally, Alliance creates opportunities for scholars to experience the rigor of college level courses and professional experiences. Many schools partner with dual enrollment programs that allow students to take college courses while still enrolled in high school. And some partnerships give scholars professional experience through apprenticeship and work shadow opportunities. One paid apprenticeship is the Alliance Professional Internship Opportunity Program called the “Fox Foundation Program” offered with partners UCLA Riordan, Glenair, and the Fox Foundation.

Alliance’s Professional Internship Opportunity Program

The path is successful

Alliance’s dedication to college preparation through identity, academics, and support is successful:

96% of Alliance scholars graduate high school
100% of them have passed the A-G requirements
97% of graduates are accepted to college.

Alliance scholars graduate college at 3.5 times the national rate. The statistics speak for themselves.

To learn more about how Alliance schools prepare scholars for a successful graduation, visit The Alliance College-Ready Public Schools Foundation.

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